Languages around the world are dying off at a tremendous rate. Linguists estimate that between 20 per cent and 50 per cent of the 6000 languages now spoken are no longer being taught to children, and will become extinct in the next century. According to linguists at the AAAS, the loss of language is bad not only for linguists but for all humanity. "The world would be less beautiful and less interesting without linguistic diversity," said Michael Krauss of the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. "I challenge anyone to prove to me we are better off without linguistic diversity."
Languages are dying as improved transport and telecommunications bring different peoples into closer contact, and speakers of minority tongues abandon them for the languages of more dominant cultures. Sometimes the switch is voluntary, but often it is forced. Earlier this century, for example, American Indian schoolchildren were punished for speaking their native tongue.
The most basic reason why linguistic diversity should be preserved is that language helps people to retain their culture. But speakers cited several other good reasons too. "As linguists we need linguistic diversity," said Kenneth Hale of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "We wouldn't even know what questions to ask with only one language."
Linguists are especially interested in the rules of grammar that seem common to all languages, because they provide important clues to how the mind works. As an example, Hale pointed to the distinction between singular and plural forms, such as "cat" and "cats". Trying to figure out the deeper rule that allows this distinction, a linguist who knew only English might come up with two possible explanations. One is that built into the brain there is a basic binary distinction between "one" and "more than one". Alternatively, there might be in-built distinctions between one subject, two, three or more. In English, it is impossible to tell which of these processes is at work. But by studying many different languages, linguists find the common factor is the binary distinction.
Hale also argued that language should be seen as "the product of human intellectual toil" rather than something that evolves unaided. For example, he studied a language called Damin, an offshoot of Lardil, an Australian Aboriginal tongue. Damin was a special language spoken only by young men in the first few years after their initiation. It was an extremely abstract, simplified form of Lardil, which could be taught to initiates in a few hours. Hale said the genius of Damin was the way it broke Lardil down into its most basic concepts. Lardil, for example, has many words for "fish" while Damin has only two - one meaning "bony fish", and one meaning "cartilaginous fish". This shows that for Lardil speakers, there is a fundamental distinction between the two.
In a similar vein, Lardil has about 90 words to cover pronouns such as "me" and "you" and determiners such as "this" and "that". But in Damin, these are boiled down to two words, "niaa" and "niuu", meaning "I" and "not-I". "I hope you'll realise this is a very big invention," said Hale. "It's not just joking around." It is as if an expert linguist had sat down to make a basic study of the Lardil language, he said. Unfortunately, Damin is no longer spoken, and Lardil is dying out.
The Kenneth Hale believes that a language develops as a result of effort to understand the world, and is not something which simply . In his work, he shows how breaking a language down to its fundamental reveals how its speakers make a between related things. He gives another very clear example of, what he claims to be a huge , by pointing to how numerous in Lardil are reduced to just two words in Damin.
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Question Focus: Identifying Kenneth Hale's role
Correct Answer: linguist
Why this is correct: The summary starts with "The ___ Kenneth Hale believes..." so it needs his professional role. The passage directly identifies him as a linguist, so this word fits both meaning and grammar.
Passage Reference: As linguists we need linguistic diversity," said Kenneth Hale of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "We wouldn't even know what questions to ask with only one language.
Common Mistake: Students may write professor because Hale works at a university, but the passage never uses that word. This is a Not Given trap.
Paraphrasing: Passage: "As linguists we need linguistic diversity" = Summary: "The linguist Kenneth Hale believes"
Tips: When a summary introduces a person, check how the passage labels their role.
Key Vocabulary:
- linguist = language scientist
Question Focus: Synonym match - effort by people
Correct Answer: human
Passage Reference: Hale also argued that language should be seen as "the product of human intellectual toil" rather than something that evolves unaided.
Why this is correct: The summary says language develops as a result of ___ effort. The passage says it is the product of human intellectual toil, so the missing word is human.
Common Mistake: Students sometimes write intellectual, but the gap is before the word effort, not toil. This is a Partial truth trap.
Paraphrasing: Passage: "human intellectual toil" = Summary: "human effort"
Tips: Do not copy extra words. Choose only what fits grammatically in the gap.
Key Vocabulary:
- toil = hard work
Question Focus: Contradiction of an idea
Correct Answer: evolves
Passage Reference: Hale also argued that language should be seen as "the product of human intellectual toil" rather than something that evolves unaided.
Why this is correct: The summary says language is not something which simply ___. The passage says Hale rejects the idea that language evolves unaided, so evolves completes the sentence.
Common Mistake: Some students write develops, but that word is not in the passage. This is a Synonym trap.
Paraphrasing: Passage: "evolves unaided" = Summary: "simply evolves"
Tips: For FIB questions, you must copy the exact word from the passage, not a synonym.
Key Vocabulary:
- unaided = without help
Question Focus: Identifying what language is broken down into
Correct Answer: concepts
Passage Reference: Hale said the genius of Damin was the way it broke Lardil down into its most basic concepts.
Why this is correct: The summary talks about breaking a language down to its fundamental ___. The passage clearly says Damin broke Lardil into its most basic concepts.
Common Mistake: Students may write rules, but rules are mentioned earlier about grammar, not here. This is a Wrong section trap.
Paraphrasing: Passage: "most basic concepts" = Summary: "fundamental concepts"
Tips: Follow passage order. This answer comes after the discussion of Damin.
Key Vocabulary:
- fundamental = basic
Question Focus: Understanding relationships between ideas
Correct Answer: distinction
Passage Reference: This shows that for Lardil speakers, there is a fundamental distinction between the two.
Why this is correct: The summary says this reveals how speakers make a __ between related things. The passage uses the phrase fundamental distinction, which matches exactly.
Common Mistake: Some students write difference, but that word is not in the passage. This is a Synonym trap.
Paraphrasing: Passage: "fundamental distinction" = Summary: "make a distinction"
Tips: Articles like "a" tell you the answer must be singular.
Key Vocabulary:
- distinction = clear difference
Question Focus: Recognising Hale's evaluation
Correct Answer: inventions
Passage Reference: "I hope you'll realise this is a very big invention," said Hale. "It's not just joking around
Why this is correct: The summary refers to what Hale calls a huge ___. He says Damin's system is a very big invention, so the plural inventions fits the summary grammar.
Common Mistake: Students may write discovery, but Hale says invention, not discovery. This is a Paraphrase trap.
Paraphrasing: Passage: "a very big invention" = Summary: "a huge invention"
Tips: Check whether the summary needs singular or plural even if the passage example is singular.
Key Vocabulary:
- invention = something newly created
Question Focus: Identifying what is reduced in Damin
Correct Answer: pronouns
Passage Reference: In a similar vein, Lardil has about 90 words to cover pronouns such as "me" and "you" and determiners such as "this" and "that". But in Damin, these are boiled down to two words, "niaa" and "niuu", meaning "I" and "not-I".
Why this is correct: The summary ends by saying numerous ___ in Lardil are reduced to two words in Damin. The passage explicitly mentions many pronouns being reduced.
Common Mistake: Some students write determiners, but the summary says "numerous" and focuses on the main category. This is a Partial truth trap.
Paraphrasing: Passage: "about 90 words to cover pronouns" = Summary: "numerous pronouns"
Tips: When examples are given, identify the main category, not every detail.
Key Vocabulary:
- pronoun = word like I, you, me
General Tips:
- FIB summaries follow passage order. Once you find one answer, scan forward for the next.
- Always copy the exact word from the passage. Synonyms are not accepted.
- Check grammar clues like articles and plural forms before choosing your answer.
- Stay within the word limit. One extra word makes the answer wrong.
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